Honesty Among Friends
by Darkmoose84
Summary: Following the events of Booth Buddies, Hekapoo listens as Marco confides in her about his fear of the repercussions of his actions. She has her own regrets about her past deeds during the centuries and gives him the honest truth about it while still having a little fun with him.


Hekapoo walked through the castle garden, looking up at the vast glorious stars and wondering to herself what was to happen next. She knew all this was a mistake. No doubt, this was going to happen eventually after so many years. She didn't realize it was already upon her and that the "Rebel Princess" would be the one to reveal this. Of course, given that nickname, it made sense for her to try and cause social upheaval.

The day after the trial, she felt sick to her stomach; it was the first time in many years that she felt truly afraid of something. Whatever vengeance Princess Meteora sought, it was coming for them. Any day now, she could come and destroy all they had built to accomplish. But really, was she wrong in doing this?

She looked around the garden at its massive flora: bushes that reached 20 feet high, vines that stretched over the marble archways under which she had walked, and enormous blue and purple flowers whose petals stretched at least three feet in all directions, their colors matching perfectly with the shades of night. As much as she had seen through the centuries, it was sometimes good to appreciate the simpler sights in life.

Thinking on this, she decided that when the night was over, she would head back to her kiln and watch the hot molten metal swash about in its pools and the fires dance underneath the ovens that would create her magnificent scissors. Yes, the fiery heat of the multiverse was what she found beautiful, no matter what form it took. The passions that burned within the hearts of all sentient life was something she admired, and her thoughts then turned to Marco and the determination she saw in him though the 16 years on her own dimension. After all this time, she could see the resoluteness and ingenuity of humanity from his long bet with her.

No sooner had her thoughts turned to him than she saw Marco flying out of the sky on Nachos. He looked down and noticed Hekapoo sitting on a stone bench in the middle of the garden, looking up at him. While he himself was in his own turmoil of thought, he decided to compartmentalize this and see what she was doing out this late at night.

He ordered Nachos to fly down, and she landed roughly ten feet from Hekapoo on the green, fertile grass. Marco lifted himself off of her back.

"Hey Hekapoo," Marco greeted her, attempting an awkward smile, "Just got back from dropping Kelly off. You're out late…everything alright?"

"I guess I am," Hekapoo looked away, "Just got a lot on my mind. How was the wedding?"

"It was…interesting," Marco replied, though it was obvious there was something he wasn't telling her, "I didn't even know Ruberiot and Foolduke were a thing until last week. So many surprises around here."

"Yeah, lots of surprises…" Hekapoo's thoughts went back and forth, but she decided nonetheless to try and get what he was hiding out of him, "But I have a feeling there was more to that event than just the happy couple entrapping each other. C'mon, tell me what's really going on."

"I…uh…" Marco muttered, "There was some unexpected drama. Kinda hard to talk about here."

"Is it now?" Hekapoo asked rhetorically, raising an eyebrow. Still, she decided to change the subject. She beckoned him to sit next to her, scooting over and patting the seat of the bench. He obliged and sat down. "Oh, I started listening to some of that Earth music you copied for me."

"Really? What did you think?" Marco asked.

"Better than I expected," Hekapoo replied, "I really liked Bikini Kill; those girls have an awesome attitude. I also liked Deadmau5. He had a good beat behind him…though one of his songs comes to mind that I can't get out my head…'Sometimes things get complicated.'"

"Complicated is right," Marco moaned, "I gotta get this off my chest. Can I tell you what happened without you judging me or looking down at me?"

That didn't take long at all, Hekapoo thought.

"Better than keeping a secret," she replied, "and having it come back you bite you in the butt."

"You mean that thing about Eclipsa's daughter?" Marco questioned.

"You heard about that, didn't you?" Hekapoo responded, sighing with embarrassment, especially with the prospect of what he would think of her now, "Well, I tell you what: why don't you tell me about your little chest weight and then I'll talk about the High Commission's butt wounds?"

"Okaaaay…" Marco breathed heavily, "Star and I shared a kiss tonight."

Hekapoo swallowed hard, blinked, and then looked up at the sky for a minute. She thought about what to say for a moment but decided to water down what she was really thinking while still being as honest as possible.

"Well, it's about time," Hekapoo replied, "How long did it take you two? Almost two Earth years now?"

"Well, I met her in 2014," Marco began thinking, "And then we survived 2015 together, and now it's spring of 2016…" He trailed off before catching himself, "Ghaaah, why are you so casual about this? There are so many things wrong with this scenario!"

"It's really not as unheard of or taboo as you think!" Hekapoo laughed at Marco's needless frustration, "Knights and princesses have had relationships before, even marriages, though they really had to prove themselves or go through some horrendous trial. Don't get me wrong; it's completely unprofessional. But you know, I really don't think Queen Moon would mind so much if you two…"

"She already has a boyfriend," Marco blurted out, "Demon prince Tom…Who's really not so bad a guy, but he's got a temper on him."

"Forget him!" Hekapoo patted Marco on the back, "That guy's known for his bad temperament and really won't last more than a few months with Star. She'll see that in time…But there's only one thing you really need to do to fix your situation right now. You've got to tell Tom about it."

"Seriously?" Marco yelped, "He'll burn me alive! We were trapped in a box we thought was magic, and this goblin guy wouldn't let us out until we kissed. I only did what I thought was best for the situation!"

"Well, look," Hekapoo began explaining, "I know this sounds cliche, but I know what you're going through. Sending away Eclipsa's hybrid daughter was what we thought was right at the moment, and we tried to keep it a secret. Yes, I know it was probably hypocritical of me to try and lecture the queen about her own secrets with Glossaryk and Ludo taking possession of the book, but at the time, I saw them as two different things. Having a half monster as the ruler of Mewni…it would have created an uproar. What we couldn't see was Eclipsa's return and Meteora's possible return. I can only imagine what kind of grudges she holds against all of us…Which is why I'm saying you, and by that I mean both of you, need to nip this in the bud and tell Tom about what happened."

"He might be willing to listen," Marco responded, "I'm just worried he's going to fly off the handle before he hears the full story, if he even accepts the full story."

"Hey, that's why you gotta keep control of the conversation," Hekapoo shifted to face him while still sitting on the bench, her shoulders a bit more square with his. "Cut with the defeatist attitude already; nobody likes that. Just try to work in everything before he can even try to interrupt you. If you have to, why not practice in the mirror? Or on me? Come on, I'll play Tom. Hit me with it."

"Okay…" Marco was a bit bewildered, but he was willing to indulge; after all, she was trying to help. "Hey, Tom."

"Hey, Marco," Hekapoo made her voice sound more manly, though it really sounded nothing like Tom.

"We need to talk," Marco continued, "and you may need to sit down for it. I wanted you to hear this from me."

"Not sure I like where this is going, Marco," Hekapoo continued her mock Tom voice, though Marco could tell she wasn't taking this entirely serious.

"Just please hear me out before you judge me," Marco followed, "At the night of the wedding, Star and I were trapped in the photo booth, and this weird goblin guy wouldn't let us out unless we kissed…And so I had to kiss Star. I promise, there was no intent to hurt you or her or anyone else. It was the only way for us to get out of there alive. So I can understand you're probably upset with me, but I wanted to tell you about it right away."

There was a long pause after Marco finished his speech. Suddenly, Hekapoo's expression changed to rage.

"GRR, I WILL BURN YOU ALIVE!" She shouted in the goofy version of Tom's voice. She generated a bright flame above her head, temporarily blinding Marco. She then put the flame out and jump tackled Marco off the bench and began tickling him all over.

"STOP IT!" Marco cackled, "I CAN'T BREATHE!" Together, their combined laughter echoed through the empty garden. She then finally stopped.

"Nah, you did okay, boy," she said, sitting up on the grass and allowing him to do the same, "Tom may be an angry jerk, but he's not completely unreasonable. I think if you explain it to him just like that, he'll get it, and you'll probably live to see another day."

"You think so?"

"Trust me," Hekapoo replied, "I've known the Lucitors for a long time. They look intimidating, but they're all bark and no bite."

The two then glanced up at the stars. Neither one of them knew the time, but they could feel the hours of the night waning away. Marco especially felt drained after the evening's unfortunate events and began rubbing his eyes.

"It's getting late," Hekapoo said, "and I can tell this tired human needs his sleep."

"I'm not sure I want to go to sleep yet," Marco responded, "Just got too many things on my mind right now, and my guts aren't liking them. Maybe I can stay here a bit longer."

"I get it," Hekapoo followed, "Why don't to take a rest here, then?" She then pulled him close and rested his head on her soft, warm, yellow and orange dress. "So, aside from tonight's mishap with Star, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Sad to say, I'm unattached," Marco yawned, looking down at the dewey grass, desperately trying to keep his eyes open, "I don't know how I feel about Kelly, especially after she took Nachos out of a ride and liked about it, and then I'm worried Star's going to hate me forever after tonight. Jackie broke up with me because I wanted to come back here. Just…after everything I've gone through, I'm worried I'm not meant to find love."

Hekapoo breathed a deep sigh, closing her eyes as she did this.

"That's too bad, kiddo," she said, knowing he was about to fall asleep at any moment, "I want you to be happy…you deserve to be happy. And I've already seen the type of man you're going to become one day. Any woman in the multiverse would be happy to be with you. I'm sorry you've been getting the short end of the stick as of late; that's not going to last forever. I can promise you that." She looked back up at the stars for a moment and smiled at how they twinkled, reminding her of the embers from kilns in her smithing workshop, all before she looked back down at him and noticing he was finally asleep.

She then took the scissors from his jacket pocket and opened a portal. She then carried him on her shoulder through the portal and entered his room. The light from the portal illuminated the room enough for her to see. She then put Marco to bed, resting his head on the pillow before covering him with the comforter.

"I'll take Nachos to the stables for you," she whispered over her shoulder, "Hang in there, boy. I've seen how incredible you turn out, and if I can see that, I know Star will one day, too." She then walked through the portal. It closed behind her, leaving the room in total darkness and Marco to his dreams about becoming Star's perfect knight and giving his princess another kiss after another of their harrowing adventures, a bright red moon shining over them as they did.

These were the pleasant dreams from which he never wanted to awake, though he knew his problems would still be there to face him in the morning. He knew he would have to face them, to be honest with Tom and with himself about what had happened and his own feelings. No, a true knight never runs from his problems, and he was prepared to face whatever the tides of time would bring him.


End file.
